Healthy Bean Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 cups white beans or 2 cups kidney beans
8 cups water
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bunch asparagus, chopped
10 ounces tomato paste (2 little cans)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Preparation

Place the beans in a large saucepan, cover with water and leave to soak overnight. I let them soak 5 hours.
Discard the soaking water, rinse the beans and place them in a large soup pot.
Place the 8 cups water in the pot, bring the beans to a boil, put the lid on and reduce the heat to simmer.
In a large sauce pan saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 3 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery and asparagus.
Saute until the mixture has cooked slightly, aprox 8 minutes.
Add the vegetable mixture to the beans, then add all remaining ingreds except the fresh parsley.
Simmer on low heat until the beans are soft, about 1 or 2 hours.
Stir in the fresh parsley, cook another 2 minutes.